Vehicle water pumps have a rapidly rotating pump shaft with an impeller mounted to the inner end and a pulley at the outer end. The pump shaft extends through a cylindrical housing, where it is supported by a bearing, and is surrounded by a spring loaded face seal that retains coolant in the pump housing. However, such seals often leak a small amount of coolant. It is generally desired not to let the stray coolant collect, as it might reach the pump shaft bearing. Therefore, vent holes, often called weep holes, are provided in the housing to let leaking coolant continually escape. Some designs also provide a slinger ring on the pump shaft, which is intended to fling stray coolant toward the vent holes, assisting its escape. However, if the vent holes become clogged by outside contaminants, their venting function may be jeopardized, requiring that they be cleaned out.